Reading other fashionistas' reviews of the Phillip Lim collection is really what inspired me to start this blog. So without further ado, here's mine!
My general impressions were largely positive. The clothing and bags were surprisingly well-made for Target pieces. Overall, they were a lot more structured than previous collab pieces and in general had a better fit. This collab seemed designed with tall girls in mind, as most of the pieces looked great on my 5'8" frame and weren't too short. The Jason Wu and Prabal Gurung dresses, by comparison, were much shorter in both total length and the torso in particular, which wasn't the right fit on me whatsoever. The negatives are that some of the dresses run too narrow in the hips and wide in the shoulders/chest, which is kind of the opposite of the average woman's body shape.
Here are a few of the pieces I tried on:
This basic black peplum with a sparkly collar was not on my wish list due to its simplicity, but it looked amazing on! Perfect fit in both the waist and the shoulders, which is a rare find. Keeper!
My inner comic book geek was excited to see the "BOOM!" print pieces, a sweatshirt and a sweater dress. I preferred the colors on the dress over the sweatshirt and was annoyed by the scratchy feel of the sweatshirt fabric. So this one's going back. It's a size S and I found it true to size. As for the sweater dress...
The fit was just all wrong. It's too long even for me (I can't imagine it on petite girls!), huge in the chest and shoulders, and narrow in the hips. I wanted to like this so I could cut off the skirt and wear the sweater with leggings or skinny jeans, but it just wasn't happening. The XS is pictured and the S was no better.
This was another unexpected success for me. Shirtdresses are normally shapeless and unflattering on me. The nicely defined waist and A-line flare of this dress were really perfect. It feels just a little short, especially where it goes up at the sides, so I'm planning to wear it with black leggings or a black slip so I don't feel self-conscious. But I love that it's longer in the back. This is a size small and felt true to size.
This dress was absolutely gorgeous in most ways, but had a few dealbreakers. First, I didn't like the sequins all over the back (you can see this in the back mirror). I preferred just the hint of sequins on the front with a plain back. Second, there's a strange gap where the strapless bodice meets the chiffon overlay on the left side. If those things don't bother you, it's a lovely dress to wear to a wedding or other formal event. This ran slightly large, as I'm modeling a size 4.
I loved the fit and softness of this light grey tank (yay for it being longer in the back!), but I thought the sequin design was cheesy and reminded me of a tuxedo T-shirt. It also didn't seem worth the price tag. This ran big - I'm wearing the XS.
The floral peplum was really cute, but it seemed less structured and a little looser than the black. I let it go for that reason as well as the fact that I bought the dress in the same print. Pretty much true to size, maybe a tiny bit on the larger side, with me in a size S.
This trench coat was my must-have piece from the whole collection, and it didn't disappoint! I had seen some awful reviews from petite girls who thought it swallowed them whole. Luckily, it fit perfectly on me and felt like it was made for my shape! The A-line minimizes my hips, the shoulders fit perfectly, and the sleeves were actually long enough for my monkey arms! This is also a size S. Winner!
I was really excited to try the dress and top in this gorgeous black and white geometric print. The dress, unfortunately, was terrible. It was too short, huge in the chest, and tiny in the hips. Definitely not made for pear shapes and not even worth a picture! This top, however, was quite workable. You can see what a difference a belt makes! It's quite large, almost maternity-huge in the waist, but the shoulders in this size S were perfect, so I didn't size down. Keeping this one because a simple belt solves all of its issues.
As for the bags, I didn't consider them at first because I'm trying to phase faux leather out of my closet. However, these lovely purses started calling my name, so I ordered the small Pashli look-alike in taupe during a very brief online restock and found the larger black Pashli-like tote that was returned to a store. The faux leather is nicely structured and actually difficult to distinguish from some of my real leather bags.
So overall, with a few caveats, I was very pleased with this collection and hope it sets the bar for the future of Target designer collaborations!
